Beijing fair bears fruit

A signing ceremony of the Third China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) was held in Beijing on June 1, 2014, which also rang down the curtain of the annual event.

Exhibitors from sports, express logistics, and science and technology services signed agreements on further cooperation with professional buyers at the ceremony.

The Third CIFTIS Signing Ceremony takes place in Beijing on June 1, 2014. [Photo/ciftis.org]

During this year’s CIFTIS, a total of 236 projects were signed with contracts worth $81.83 billion, an increase of four percent from the previous fair. About $35.5 billion were signed for projects in the international services trade, accounting for 43.4 percent of the total turnover, up 29.6 percent from 2013.

The five-day event saw 2,524 exhibitors from 117 countries and regions, 624 more than in 2013. The number of professional overseas purchasers reached 210.

In addition, it promoted communication and cooperation among countries, international organizations and associations. Over 90 politicians, ministers, ambassadors, heads of international organizations, associations and multinational enterprises attended the event.

More than 1,000 enterprises applied for business matching services through the newly established CIFTIS Business Matching System, and 2,011 applications were confirmed.

Meanwhile, a digital content trade conference on May 29 attracted over 2,000 visitors and carried out 350 one-on-one business talks with cooperation projects working 2.06 billion yuan ($329.8 million). In the express service sector, nearly 400 enterprises that participated in the forum, which featured online to offline businesses, signed contracts worth 50 billion yuan.

This year’s Beijing fair has enjoyed a growing number of visitors, as well as higher-quality exhibiting companies. Enterprises and associations from eight countries and regions, including the US, Germany, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, participated in the event.

More and more international organizations also began to pay attention to CIFTIS. A total of 21 international organizations and foreign associations participated in the event. A group of leading enterprises from home and abroad, such as Samsung, Carrefour, Siemens, China Post and Beijing Tongrentang Group, have attended the CIFTIS for three consecutive years.

The 3rd CIFTIS attracted more attention from media than previous fairs. During the event, 1,437 reporters from 262 media made immediate coverage of all kinds of activities. Its official website - www.ciftis.org, was visited some 2.815 million times after it was redesigned.